This invention relates to a device for use in tying knots during surgery carried out using an endoscope, notably a flexible endoscope.
It has hitherto proved difficult to tie knots during flexible endoscopy. In effect, the surgeon is operating down a single longitudinally extending channel, and in endeavoring to tie a knot the surgeon encounters the problem that an effective knot generally requires the application of a force along a direction transverse to the channel of the endoscope. The present invention aims to provide a solution to that problem.
According to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope having a distal end and a proximal end, and a thread guide device. In one embodiment, the thread guide device is in the form of an annular member which surrounds the distal end without impairing the field of view of the endoscope. The thread guide device has a pair of thread guide means which are laterally spaced from one another, thereby permitting a knot formed by threads which have passed through the thread guide means to be viewed by the endoscope.
In a second embodiment, the thread guide device is constructed to be moveable longitudinally with respect to the end of the endoscope. This embodiment may comprise of a head connected to the distal end of an elongate flexible shaft that is axially slidable within an operation channel of the endoscope. The shaft can be manipulated to move the head toward or away from the distal end of the endoscope. The shaft of the thread guide device is inserted through the operation channel of the endoscope such that the head is disposed at the distal end of the endoscope.
In the accompanying diagrammatic drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thread guide device according to the first embodiment of the invention mounted on the distal end of an endoscope;
FIG. 2 shows the device and endoscope of FIG. 1, being used to tie a half hitch knot;
FIG. 3 shows the device and endoscope of FIG. 1 being used to tie a self-lock slipknot;
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the thread guide device;
FIG. 5 shows the second embodiment of the thread guide device positioned in an endoscope; and
FIG. 6 shows the second embodiment of the device and endoscope being used to tie a half-hitch knot.